Slow Cook Shin of Beef Stew (serves 4 people)

600g (1 ¼ lb) of shin of beef – you can use stewing steak as an alternative.
Two medium onions or leeks.
½ head of celery (optional)
Four carrots.
Seasoned flour.
Vinegar.
Cloves.
Dried chilli flakes/Juniper berries/Black peppercorns (all optional).
Red wine/Ale, as preferred, to cover the meat.

Cut the beef into strips or dice it, as preferred. Put the seasoned flour into a bag, add the meat and shake it until the meat is covered. Brown the meat in a casserole on a high heat (beef dripping is best, but vegetable oil is fine) and reserve.

Chop the onions and celery and begin to sweat them over a low heat. Add the chilli flakes and/or juniper berries and/or peppercorns, stirring them well into the vegetables.

Put the meat back into the pan and throw in a large splash of vinegar – sherry or balsamic is good, wine vinegar is fine and just sherry or vermouth would do.

Add a couple of dessert spoonfuls of the seasoned flour from the bag you shook the diced meat in. Stir well but slowly until the flour is somewhat cooked.

Add the roughly chopped carrots and the red wine or ale. If using beer, ale or stout that is all you need. If using red wine, use a 50/50 mixture with water or beef stock. Stir once twice to mix in.

Cut a circle of greaseproof paper the same size as the casserole you are using. Wet it thoroughly and place the paper on the surface of the meat and vegetables. Put the lid on the casserole.

Cook in a slow oven (150?C) for at least four hours. Check the casserole to ensure that it hasn’t dried out. If it has, just add some more liquid as above. Try a bit of the meat for tenderness. If you think it’s ready, turn the oven down to 100?C until you are ready to serve it. Six hours cooking will NOT harm this dish ! In fact, if you make it the day before and reheat it, it will be even better.

For vegetables I can recommend any type of cabbage that takes your fancy, steamed and then tossed in some melted butter for a minute or so. I find mashed potatoes work best, but you will know what you like.

The cost should be not more than £5:00 if you take advantage of our March Special Offer – otherwise it might creep up to about £6:50.